1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image producing material. More particularly, the present invention pertains to a material for producing by means of peeling an image made from a thin layer of metal, a metal compound or a mixture of a metal and a metal compound.
Metal patterns which may be produced according to the present invention have a wide variety of applications such as intermediate or secondary originals, lithographic plates, process films, printed circuits, original copies for display and projection, electrodes for electroluminescence, label tapes, electrodes for liquid crystal display and plasma display, an ELD (Electroluminescent Display), anti-fogging and antifrost means for window glass, charge leak layers for electrophotography, antistatic layers, electrodes for photoelectric transducers, etc.
A methods of etching a metal using a photoresist have heretofore been known. In such methods, a photosensitive layer is formed on a material having a metal layer on a substrate by means of coating or laminating, and after this photosensitive layer has been exposed to light through a photoresist applied in a pattern corresponding to a desired image, development is carried out using a developer to produce a relief image of the photoresist. With this photoresist image as a mask, the metal layer is etched using an etching liquid such as an acid to produce a metal pattern. Further, the photoresist layer on the metal pattern may be removed according to need, using for example, a film removing liquid and thus completing the process. Accordingly, the conventional technique adopting the above-described method suffers from certain disadvantages in that it involves dangers in the etching operation, in that there is an indispensable need to arrange for disposal of drainage, and in that the etching speed depends on the kind of metal employed, i.e., certain kinds of metal are etched at an unfavorably slow rate.
Materials or methods for producing an image made from a metal or a metal compound on a substrate that make use of a peeling phenomenon have also been previously known.
2. Prior Art
Japanese Patent Publication No. 13305/1981 and Japanese Patent Public Disclosure No. 123130/1978 disclose a metal image producing material of the negative-positive type in which a thin layer of a metal or a metal compound and a photosensitive layer are provided on a substrate, the photosensitive layer containing a polymer binding compound and a quinone compound, diazonium compound, azido compound or benzophenone compound photosensitizer, and an image made from the thin metal or metal compound layer being produced by peeling off the photosensitive layer. These publications also describe a method of processing such a material. In this prior art, the material is subjected to moistening using warm water after exposure and before the peeling off of the photosensitive layer.
Japanese Patent Public Disclosure No. 130120/1979 discloses a photosensitive material consisting essentially of an image producing layer made of a metal or a metal compound, an intermediate layer made of a film forming thermoplastic polymeric material, and a photosensitive layer composed of a nitrogen-containing photolytic compound and a photosensitive composition containing a thermoplastic polymeric binding material which is a film forming material, these layers being successively provided on a substrate, wherein the interfacial adhesion between the image producing layer and the substrate or that between the image producing layer and the intermediate layer is decreased by irradiating the photosensitive layer with activation light and then heating this activated layer, and also discloses a method of using the above-described photosensitive image producing material which comprises heating the material and then peeling it off so that the image producing layer in the unexposed area or the exposed area is left on the substrate to define a pattern. This material requires a heat treatment after exposure and before peeling off of the photosensitive layer.
Japanese Patent Public Disclosure No. 198445/1984 discloses a metal image producing material of the positive-negative type in which a metal layer, a surface-treated metal layer and a photosensitive layer are provided on a substrate in that order and an image made from the metal layer is produced by peeling off the photosensitive layer. This material enables an image of a metal to be obtained simply by peeling off the photosensitive layer after exposure, but involves the need to subject the metal to a special surface treatment.
The present inventors made exhaustive studies in order to overcome the above-described problems and has thereby accomplished the present invention.